Log in
HomeTextbook Notes300,000CA170,000

Economics 1021A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Demand Curve, Marginal Product, Marginal Cost

101 views3 pages
emeraldmacaw188
9 Dec 2016
School
Western University
Department
Economics
Course
Economics 1021A/B
Professor
Emilie Mc Hugh Rivers

For unlimited access to Textbook Notes, a Class+ subscription is required.

mariameelguendou and 38538 others unlocked
ECON 1021A/B Full Course Notes
94
ECON 1021A/B Full Course Notes
Verified Note
94 documents

Document Summary

Labour market is a collection of people and firms who trade labour services. Wage rate: the price of labour services. Most labour markets have many buyers and sellers and are competitive markets. Supply and demand determine the wage rate and quantity of labour employed. Demand for a factor of production is a derived demand it"s derived from the demand for the goods and services that the labour produces. The quantities of factors of production demanded are a consequence of the firm"s output decision (chapter 10 15) A firm hires the quantity of factors of production that produce the profit-maximizing output. Value of marginal product: the value to the firm of hiring one more unit of a factor of production. Calculated as the price of a unit of output (ex. ) multiplied by the marginal product of the factor of production. Table 18. 1 shows the calculation of vmp. Calculate marginal product from the firm"s total product schedule.

Get access

Grade+
$40 USD/m
Billed monthly
Grade+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
10 Verified Answers
Class+
$30 USD/m
Billed monthly
Class+
Homework Help
Study Guides
Textbook Solutions
Class Notes
Textbook Notes
Booster Class
7 Verified Answers

Related Documents

Economics 1021A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Reservation Wage, Demand Curve, Trade Union
sapphiretortoise72
Economics 1021A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Marginal Product, W. M. Keck Observatory
plumpug365
Economics 1021A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Demand Curve, Marginal Product
silverferret42

Related Questions

1. In a perfectly competitive industry, an individual firm faces:

a. a perfectly elastic labour supply curve

b. a perfectly inelastic labour supply curve

c.a perfectly vertical labour supply curve

d.none of the above

2. A firm purchases more capital equipment. We would expect to observe:

a. an increase in the supply of labour for this firm

b. a decrease in the supply curve of labour for this firm

c.an increase in the wage rate paid for labour by this firm

d.an increase in the demand for labour by this firm

3. Which of the following would be h most likely outcome if all perfectly competitive firms in a product market join together to form a monopoly?

a. the rate of output in the market will increase but the quantity of labour input will decrease

b.both the rate of output and the quantity of labour input employed will increase

c.the rate of output in the market will decrease but the quantity of labour input will increase

d.both the rate of output and the quantity of labour input employed will decrease

4. what does the marginal revenue product equal when 28 workers are hired in one week?

Labor input (workers per week)__Marginal physical product (output per week)__marginal revenue

25_______________________150_________________________________9.00

26_______________________140_________________________________8.50

27_______________________130_________________________________8.00

28_______________________120_________________________________7.50

29_______________________110________________________________7.00

a. $210

b.$7.50

c.$900

d.$1040

5. The profit-maximizing firm will hire additional workers until:

a. the extra revenue by the last workers hired equals zero

b.the extra cost associated with hiring the last worker equals the price of goods produced

c.the additional cost associated with hiring the last worker equals the average wage rate of workers

d.the additional cost associated with hiring the last worker equals the additional revenue generated by that worker.

1.Assume that there was a 10 per cent increase in the price of all goods in 2010; if the base year is 2009, then the price index in 2010 will be Select one:

a. 1100. b. 200. c. 90. d. 110.

2.The value of your money income, in terms of buying goods and services, is referred to like your money's

a. transaction cost.

b. rigidity factor.

c. staying power.

d. purchasing power.

3. Unemployment that is caused by business recessions is called

a. frictional unemployment.

b. seasonal unemployment.

c. structural unemployment.

d. cyclical unemployment.

4.All of the following are examples of a flow EXCEPT

a. the current unemployment rate.

b. a person who is fired from a job.

c. an individual who voluntarily leaves the labour force.

d. a new entrant into the labour force.

5.Which one of these factors plays a role in determining the extent and duration of frictional unemployment?

a. the ease with which job seekers can obtain information about job openings

b. the degree to which the overall level of business activity fluctuates up and down

c. the extent to which government legislation requires firms to provide health insurance for employees

d. the education and skill levels of labour force participants

6.Since 1950, the labour force participation rate in the United States

a. of men and women both decreased.

b. of men decreased and for women increased.

c. of men increased and women decreased.

d. of men and women both increased.

7.Increases in the duration of unemployment may

a. reflect a general downturn in economic activity that depresses job openings.

b. increase the unemployment rate.

c. All of these.

d. increase the number of discouraged workers.

8. A discouraged worker is someone who

a. is unemployed.

b. has been fired.

c. is not in the labour force.

d. is employed.

9.In the United States, the wage floor legislated by the government below which it is generally illegal to pay workers is known as

a. the going wage.

b. the employment gap.

c. the minimum wage.

d. the wage ceiling.

10. Which of the following is an effect of a minimum wage law that establishes a ceiling wage below the current market-clearing wage?

a. Surplus labour, or unemployment

b. A decrease in the market-clearing wage

c. A decrease in the quantity of labour supplied

d. An increase in the quantity of labour supplied

11. Which group of individuals most likely benefits from rent controls?

a. low-income wage earners who fail to obtain rental housing

b. the unemployed who fail to obtain rental housing

c. single-parent families without savings or other financial assets who fail to obtain rental housing

d. upper-income professionals who rent apartments at the price ceiling rate

A competitive firm’s short-run demand for labor will rise when the price of its product rises.

True

False

As the wage rate rises, the marginal revenue product of labor increases.

True

False

A competitive firm’s demand for labor always slopes down in the short-run, but may slope upwards or downwards in the long run.

True

False

When labor an capital are complements in production, a higher wage will cause a firm to use more capital in the long run.

True

False

If labor is a regressive factor, then a firm’s long-run demand for labor may or may not be downward sloping.

True

False

The short-run demand curve for labor for a firm in any type of market for its output coincides with

the upward-sloping portion of the marginal revenue product curve.

the downward-sloping portion of the marginal revenue product curve.

the downward-sloping portion of the marginal product curve.

the marginal labor cost curve.

An increase in the price of labor will, in the short run, cause a competitive firm’s

marginal cost to increase, the quantity it sells to decrease, and therefore reduce the quantity of labor demanded.

price of its output to increase, leaving the quantity of labor demanded unchanged.

marginal revenue product of labor to decrease, and therefore reduce demand for labor.

marginal revenue product of labor to increase, and therefore increase demand for labor.

Which of the following would cause the firm’s short-run demand curve for labor to shift to the right?

A decrease in the wage rate.

An increase in the price of the firm’s product.

An increase in the rental rate paid to capital.

A decrease in the amount of complementary capital available.

If increased capital usage reduces the firm’s short-run demand for labor, then

labor is a regressive factor.

labor and capital are complements in production.

labor and capital are substitutes in production.

labor is a Giffen factor.

When is the law of demand violated for labor? That is, with regards to the law of labor demand, when does an increase in the wage not lead to a reduction in the quantity of labor demanded?

Never.

When the substitution and scale effects are in opposition, with the scale effect being the larger.

When labor is a regressive factor.

When labor earns zero economic rent.

If the wage rate rises, then the firm’s long-run marginal costs change, which in turn affects the firm’s output level and its employment of labor. This phenomenon is known as

the substitution effect.

the scale effect.

the regressive-factor effect.

the factor-price effect.

When will the scale effect of a wage increase cause a reduction in the quantity of labor demanded?

Always.

When labor is not a regressive factor.

When labor and capital are substitutes in production.

When labor and capital are complements in production.

Consider the usual case where a higher wage rate increases a firms’ marginal costs. In this case, the industry’s demand curve for labor

is more wage inelastic than the individual firms’ demand curves would indicate.

coincides with the horizontal sum of individual firms’ demand curves.

contains only substitution effects but no scale effects.

is horizontal at the going wage rate.

To maximize profits, a monopolist will hire the quantity of labor at which marginal revenue product of labor

is downward sloping and equal to the market wage rate.

is downward sloping and equal to marginal labor cost.

minus marginal labor cost is maximized.

is maximized.

A firm’s revenue minus its factor payments equals

zero.

the profits or losses earned by the firm.

the quasi-rents earned by the factors of production.

the firm’s total revenue.

As the amount of labor used in production increases, total product

increases at low levels of labor and decreases at higher levels of labor.

increases at high levels of labor and decreases at low levels of labor.

always increases.

always decreases.

A profit-maximizing price taker will produce at a level where

the wage equals the marginal product of labor.

the marginal revenue product of labor equals the price of their output.

the wage rate equals the price of their output.

the marginal revenue product of labor equals the wage rate.

If the wage rate is $10 per hour and one worker can produce 2 units of output per hour, then the marginal cost of production is

$5.

$10.

$20.

The answer cannot be determined from the information given.

A firm’s long-run demand for labor is more wage-elastic than its short-run demand for labor.

True

False

A monopsonist’s short-run demand curve for labor coincides with its marginal revenue product of labor curve.

True

False

Workers will receive higher wages when an employer faces an upward-sloping supply curve for labor.

True

False

The profit an owner receives is equivalent to the rent received for her entrepreneurial services.

True

False

When high levels of labor are employed, total production tends to increase at a decreasing rate.

True

False

The substitution effect on labor always decreases the quantity of labor demanded when the wage rate increases.

True

False

A firm’s marginal revenue product of labor equals the marginal product of labor multiplied by the per-unit cost of labor.

True

False

Tastes and preferences are relevant to individual choices for consumption but not relevant to choices for supplying labor.

True

False

A higher wage will always cause a worker to increase the quantity of labor supplied.

True

False

The substitution and income effects of a wage increase both cause consumption to rise.

True

False

A worker’s labor supply may either rise or fall when nonlabor income increases, depending on whether the substitution effect or the income effect dominates.

True

False

When an increase in marginal productivity increases workers’ nonlabor income, the effect on the quantity of labor supplied is ambiguous/uncertain.

True

False

A technological improvement that is permanent is more likely to raise employment than one that is temporary.

True

False

Other factors being constant, firms that provide on-the-job training to workers will tend to pay higher wages.

True

False

If there is discrimination, employers engage in it a cost.

True

False

Human capital tends to increase over the course of a person’s life.

True

False

In the indifference curve budget line model of labor supply,

labor is measured along the horizontal axis and leisure is measured along the vertical axis.

labor is measured along the horizontal axis and consumption is measured along the vertical axis.

consumption is measured along the horizontal axis and labor is measured along the vertical axis.

consumption is measured along the horizontal axis and leisure is measured along the vertical axis.

In the indifference curve budget line model of labor supply, the slope of the indifference curve is used to measure

the wage rate.

labor’s marginal product.

the worker’s nonlabor income.

the marginal value of leisure.

If a worker has chosen a quantity of labor where the marginal value of leisure exceeds the wage rate, she would be better off by

choosing less leisure.

providing fewer hours of labor.

providing more hours of labor.

staying at this combination of labor and consumption.

When there is an increase in the wage rate there will be

both a substitution effect and an income effect.

only a substitution effect.

only a substitution effect.

either a substitution effect or an income effect.

When the wage rate rises, the substitution effect leads a worker to

increase consumption while the income effect leads to a decrease in consumption.

decrease consumption while the income effect leads to an increase in consumption.

increase consumption, as does the income effect.

substitution sleep for other leisure.

Consider the indifference curve budget line model of labor supply, and assume consumption and leisure are both normal goods. A higher wage rate would result in

more consumption and less leisure.

a reduction in the worker’s marginal value of leisure.

reduced consumption if the income effect is larger than the substitution effect.

increased labor only if the substitution effect outweighs the income effect.

When the wage rate rises, a worker chooses to replace some leisure hours with work hours, even if he would remain equally well off. This phenomenon is known as

compensating differential.

the income effect.

the substitution effect.

intertemporal substitution.

Which of the following will shift a worker’s labor supply curve to the left?

Higher nonlabor income.

A lower wage rate, assuming the substitution effect dominates the income effect.

New machinery that substitutes for labor and lowers its marginal product.

A decrease in the marginal value of leisure.

Which of the following would cause a rightward shift in the labor demand curve?

Manna from heaven.

A rise in the wage rate.

A rise in workers’ marginal productivity.

A decline in workers’ nonlabor incomes.

When some jobs are inherently more risky or unpleasant than other jobs, different workers will be paid different wages because of

differences in human capital.

differing access to capital.

compensating differentials

discrimination.

Discrimination is difficult to measure empirically because

it is hard to measure and control for differences in marginal productivity.

data on racial and gender differences is rarely available.

discrimination is practiced by very few employers.

economists find no significant wage differentials due to gender or race.

Intertemporal substitution dictates that

people will work less in periods of high productivity.

people will spend more in periods of high productivity.

people will work more in periods of high productivity.

people will spend less in periods of high productivity.

A decrease in the wage rate causes the budget line to

become flatter.

become steeper.

shift upward.

shift downward.

An increase in the marginal productivity of labor will tend to

shift the labor supply curve rightward if the change is temporary.

result in an increase in employment if the change is temporary.

result in an increase in employment if the change is permanent.

all of the above.

A downward shift in a worker’s budget line is a result of

an increase in the wage rate.

a decrease in the wage rate.

an increase in nonlabor income.

a decrease in nonlabor income

One deficiency of the labor-leisure indifference curve analysis is that because indifference curves are always tangent to the worker’s budget line, the model cannot explain why some people choose not to work.

True

False